familiar unknown

Tuesday, 6 June 2017

John Leeson: "Affirmative, Master." John Leeson is best known as the voice of K-9 in 'Doctor Who' (and latterly, 'The Sarah Jane Adventures'), although two other actors have stepped in on occasion to play the mechanical mutt. Some still feel that the idea of a clunky fibreglass-shelled robo-rover - complete with vintage '70s computer font branding - could drag the nation's favourite sci fi serial perilously close to 'Metal Mickey' territory, yet he seems to be generally accepted by fans, even popping up to add some knowing nostalgia to the show in the David Tennant era.

Appearing in one of Timothy's dreams of escape from his mother
in the tragicomic 'Sorry' with Ronnie Corbett

Those who want to spot John Leeson when not acting through an electronic prop have a difficult task, but he has popped up in a few TV bit parts over the years, starting in the late '60s. As Victor, for example, Timothy's librarian mate in 'Sorry', and a smattering of background characters in anything from 'Take Three Girls', 'The Barretts Of Wimpole Street' and 'Vanity Fair', to 'Minder', 'Allo Allo', and 'Tucker's Luck'.He made a convincing petty official and was quite likely to appear with a clipboard to infuriate and bewilder unwitting victims on 'Beadle's About'.

Checking Arthur's passport in a late episode of 'Minder'

He's in feature films 'Tarka The Otter' (1979) and 'Whoops Apocalypse' (1988) was also the actor in an early version of the Bungle bearsuit in the children's TV show 'Rainbow' for a short while in 1972.

Wednesday, 19 April 2017

Edward De Souza:Debonair De Souza approached male lead status in the early '60s, appearing in the Hammer films ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ (1962) and ‘The Kiss of the Vampire’ (1962), followed by 'Jules Verne's First Men In The Moon' ( 1964), but somehow he missed that particular boat and moved into character roles, in which he has been a consistent fixture across more than five decades. There have been a number of relatively high profile film appearances. In 1977 he played Sheik Hosein in the James
Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me' and is seen in the fantasy drama ‘The Golden Compass’ (2007).

Propping up the bar of the Rovers Return in 'Coronation Street'

Television, however, has been his bread and butter, with comedy playing a surprisingly large part. From 1961 to 1966, he starred in the sitcom 'Marriage Lines' with Richard Briers and Prunella Scales. de Souza played the role of Afonso in One Foot in the Grave One Foot in the Algarve (1993). He
also appeared in 'Not In Front Of The Children' with Wendy Craig, as well as the underrated office comedy, 'The Squirrels' and the television version of 'After Henry' (1989–90).

In 'Kiss Of The Vampire' (1962)

In TV drama, he was solicitor Bonny Bernard in the first series of ‘Rumpole of the Bailey’
(1978), and in 1982 he appeared in the final ‘Sapphire & Steel’ adventure as
"The Man". Farrington. Earlier, he took the part of Soveral (the Portuguese Ambassador to Britain)
in ‘Edward the Seventh’, and joined the British soap opera Coronation Street as Colin Grimshaw, in 2008 and 2009. To this we can add a sprinkling of cult fodder stretching from 'The Saint', 'The Avengers', and 'Department S' to 'Strangers' and 'The Sweeney'. Latterly you might catch him in 'Doctors', the 2012 version of 'The Borgias', or 'New Tricks'.

In the Wednesday Play 'The End Of Arthur's Marriage', with the late Ken Jones

Trivial treat: In 1965, he appeared as the lead in the Doctor Who story Mission
to the Unknown – the only story ever broadcast in the series not to feature
the Doctor in any capacity. He took on Valentine Dyall’s trademark role as the ominous sounding 'Man in Black' on BBC Radio 4 between 1988 and 1992.

Sunday, 12 March 2017

Terence Sewards:Here's an actor that hasn't been seen on our screens for for a while. According to imdb, his last appearance was as long ago as 1984. His petulantly boyish looks led to a series of roles of the edgier villain or unstable henchman type, perhaps something in the manner of a Ronald Lacey.

About to hit the floor after receiving a mortal injury from
'Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter' (1974)

Television appearances include some ever-popular '60s and '70s franchises: 'The Avengers', 'Hadleigh', 'The Persuaders', 'Warship', 'Z-Cars' and 'The Sweeney'. He's also in the acclaimed Dennis Potter BBC Wednesday, Play 'The Beast With Two Backs'. For some reason he seemed to fade away from our screens in the '80s, and although he was describing himself as an actor/writer to Companies House in 1995, there's not much in the way of internet clues as to his later work. Still, let's salute him here.

Trying to impress upon gentleman thief Giles (Shane Briant) the
consequences of failing to repay his debts, in 'The Sweeney'

Thursday, 26 January 2017

Yes, he's hardly 'unknown' - in the UK at least. In fact the impish Scottish actor Stanley Baxter is virtually the last man standing of the golden era of British film comedy, alongside his old sparring partner Leslie Phillips. In films produced by the film company Independent Artists, Baxter played a series of characters whose indignant innocence and highland integrity was set off against Phillips's casual caddishness. In 'The Fast Lady' (1962) and 'And Father Came Too' (1964) their rivalry was played out under the critical eye of the great James Robertson Justice. In these he made a likeable, if rather unlikely, male lead - winning the girl through dogged virtue rather than matinee-idol dash.

Publicity still for 'The Fast Lady' (1962)

In 'Very Important Person' (1961) and 'Crooks Anonymous' (1962) the emphasis was more on his vaudevillian skills of comic characterisation, in which he was considerably more nuanced than, say, Norman Wisdom, but not as sophisticated as Peter Sellers. To me, his craggy features and mischievously mobile expressions gave him a rather sinister quality, particularly in drag. His love of the dressing-up box was later to become the raison d'etre of his television sketch shows.

With Leslie Phillips in 'Crooks Anonymous' (1962)

By the later '60s and early '70s, the light family comedies had been brushed aside by smuttier Carry-Ons and the horror boom and television became his natural domain, although it always seemed that his audience was an older one. The shows featured some memorable skits, particularly his long-running 'Parliamo Glasgow' language course routines which offered an early observational take on the peculiarities of Scottish culture, later taken up by Billy Connolly and the 'Rab C Nesbitt' series. Other sketches, however, tended towards overlong costume pieces with the spectacle of a gargoyle-like Baxter in elaborate drag as a series of Hollywood actresses proving not all that funny. Especially if you were a ten-year-old who didn't know his Ethel Mermans from his Rita Hayworths.

Showing off his regional accents in a 'Nationwide' skit. Ill-advised blacked-up
Baxter (yes really) in the BBC's 'Brixton' studio not shown

Hello who is this? Shirley MacLaine? Who knows?

This one must be 'Gone With The Wind'. Not very
many people gave a damn, I suspect

His regular shows became less regular, eventually just an annual Christmas special, but there was a final flourish as the Andy Warhol-meets-Patrick Troughton children's TV star 'Mr Majeika' in the '80s before he settled down to national treasure status. Born in 1926, he's now in his nineties and hopefully going strong.

As 'Mr Majeika'. As scary as only strange childlike elderly men can be

Friday, 6 January 2017

Michael Culver:Now here's a face of the seventies, a lean, shrewd-looking actor who carved his name into a swathe of memorable roles through the heyday of popular television, yet without quite becoming a star.

As the caddish Danny, telling the world that he doesn't love Annabelle. Soon to be

pushed off the Albert Bridge by that miffed lady and not, as it turns out, by

a lovelorn Rodney Bewes. All in a day's work for a 'Man In A Suitcase'.

He's another of that dwindling band of actors whose careers straddle the cult TV years of the '60s and '70s, when he appeared in 'Maigret', 'The Avengers', 'The Plane Makers', 'Man In A Suitcase', and 'Space:1999', and more mature roles in dramas such as 'Within These Walls', 'Doomwatch', 'Churchill's People' and 'Warship'. Perhaps his highest-profile part was in the very popular 'Secret Army' as the comparatively sympathetic German officer Brandt who tempers some of the Nazi fervour of his Gestapo counterpart Kessler (played by Clifford Rose). Younger viewers at the time would probably associate him more with 'The Adventures Of Black Beauty'.

Hirsute's you. Culver plays the dastardly kidnapper Kurt with some

impressive mutton chops, alongside the late Ralph Bates at his glossiest

in 'Nuisance Value', an episode of 'The Persuaders' from 1972

The later '70s and early '80s kept things nicely on the boil with appearances in favourites like 'The Sweeney', 'Minder', 'Squadron', 'Hammer House Of Horror', 'The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes', 'Boon', 'The Professionals' and 'Shoestring'.

As Prior Robert in the medieval detective series 'Cadfael'

Then there's the cinema CV, which contains some pretty impressive titles, kicking off with (uncredited) roles in 'From Russia With Love' (1963) and 'Thunderball' (1965), and including 'A Passage To India' (1984), the Peter O'Toole 'Goodbye Mr Chips' (1969). As with many British character actors, though, he is known throughout geekdom for his brush with the Star Wars franchise, in this case as Captain Needa, another imperial officer who gets on the wrong side of Darth Vader.

Still breathing in 'The Empire Strikes Back' (1980). But not for long.

Friday, 16 December 2016

Jane Freeman:Jane Freeman's acting career has been pretty much defined by one role, that of Ivy, the permanently disgruntled proprietress of the cafe in 'Last Of The Summer Wine'. She appears, fully formed, in 'Of Funerals and Fish', the play which became the pilot for Roy Clarke's interminable series of geriatric misadventures, and then went on to repeat much the same lines in another 273 of the programme's 295 episodes. Only Peter Sallis has been in more - all of them, in fact.

'Last Of The Summer Wine publicity shot, with screen hubby Sid (the late John Comer)

Beyond her epic 1973-2010 stint in Holmfirth, there have been a few interesting interludes: several outings of 'Play For Today' (including 'The Fishing Party' in 1972, which also featured her LOTSW co-star John Comer), and roles in 'Within these Walls', 'Silas Marner' (the 1975 BBC adaptation starring Ben Kingsley), 'Prince Regent' and 'The Black Adder'. It seems her sole cinematic outing was in the tough girl drama 'Scrubbers' (1982).

As the guest house tyrant Audrey in 'The Fishing Party'

In some ways it seems a shame that she didn't get to play a few more varied parts over all those years, she would have been good as a jolly farmer's wife, a crooked clairvoyant or a merry widow. But I'm sure many actors would (and did) jump at the chance of decades of such regular work and she's certainly become, if not a household name, a very familiar face. Jane Freeman-imdb

Monday, 12 December 2016

Ken Bones:A great name for this vaguely familiar skull-headed actor with a mix of doomy gravitas and steely intensity, Ken Bones has appeared in many TV favourites, from 'Doctor Who' and 'Doctors' to portentous religious epics like 'Bible' and 'AD: The Bible Continues'.

In Jack The Ripper (1988)

Ken Bones in 'Spooks'

Other TV credits include cosy stuff like 'New Tricks', The Inspector Lynley Mysteries', 'Bergerac', 'The Hour', 'Heartbeat' and six different roles in six episodes of 'The Bill'. These are nicely balanced by medium-heavy historicals ranging from 'The Virgin Queen', 'Henry VIII: Mind Of A Tyrant' (in which he plays the theologian Erasmus), and 'Medici: Masters Of Florence' to the Nazi dissenter Otto Strasser in 'Inside The Mind Of Adolf Hitler'.

In the 50th anniversary episode of 'Doctor Who'

On the big screen, his major appearances were in 'Troy' (2004) and 'Exodus: Gods And Kings' 2014', but he also shows up in 'Bellman And True' (1987), 'Split Second' (1992) and as the 13th landlord in 'The World's End'. He seems like a natural for a JK Rowling franchise, but in fact you'll only see him if you visit a thrill ride atthe Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park in Florida where he appears as Salazar Slitherin in the short 'Harry Potter and The Forbidden Journey'. Ken Bones-imdb